Chase the Nightmares Away
by LucyoftheSky
Summary: Rumble is having a difficult time recharging after being plagued by a disturbing nightmare. Perhaps Soundwave can give him solace. No pairings, just a father and his frightened son, and lots of fluff.


Just a sweet little story I made after looking at some cute pictures of Soundwave and his Minicons.

* * *

Snores from every Decepticon rumbled throughout the interior of the underwater _Nemesis_. Nighttime was perhaps the only moments where thing were mostly settled, no fighting Constructicons, or flying Seekers. No yelling Megatron nor screeching Starscream. Just the sounds of mechs deep in their recharge cycle.

It wasn't long ago that the sun dipped down and extinguished itself into the distant, rolling waves of the far-off horizon. Sunset was a more peaceful time in which everyone retired to their hab-suites to relax for the remainder of the day, and get some much-needed rest after suffering defeat from the meddling Autobots.

Everyone had their own place to sleep aboard the _Nemesis_, even the smaller Cassetticons. Soundwave usually ejected them and sent them off to their own rooms as soon as the moon rose in place of the fallen sun. His reasoning was simple, he was never amused when the Minicons caused a ruckus in this chest compartment when he attempted to recharge. Thus, they had their own separate room.

That one evening, everything was quiet, save for the snoring, and almost everyone was in the middle of recharging. Almost everyone.

In the middle of the darkness, a small figure moved about the corridors, his purple paint blending in with the darkened surroundings. Rumble, one of Soundwave's many cassettes had awoken after having a hard time recharging. He had tossed and turned on his recharge slab, surprisingly failing to stir any of his smaller companions out of their recharge cycles. Not wanting to disturb them, Rumble left. Perhaps he could talk to Soundwave, or perhaps Soundwave would turn away and tell him to return to his quarters. It was worth a shot.

A tiny hand reached forward and typed in the code required to undo the unlocking mechanism attached to his boss' door. When the metal slab parted for him, Rumble scuttled inside, being careful not to make too much noise as he entered.

Inside of the bland room, Soundwave was resting, as expected, while a few small synthetic, metallic noises emitted from his vocoder. Rumble slowly made his way to the edge of the recharge slab, but suddenly became hesitant as he extended his arm to shake Soundwave awake. Would Soundwave be angry with him if he woke him up this late at night? The little cassette had become so nervous. But he soon shook off his growing anxiety and touched Soundwave's shoulder.

Even though the large, navy blue Decepticon had been deep in his slumbers, the small touch from Rumble's tiny digits was enough to waken him. His red visor slowly booted up and began to emit a glow that faintly illuminated the empty room. As he came out of his post-recharge grogginess, Soundwave shifted his attention to the side of his recharge slab, where he noticed a tiny figure trying to evade his gaze.

Rumble began to regret wakening his boss, he thought that if he could hide from Soundwave, then maybe he'd return to recharging and then Rumble could escape back to his own room. But sadly, Soundwave was more observant than Rumble had previously estimated. The large mech sat up on the recharge slab, took hold of Rumble with both of his arms, and lifted him up onto the slab so that his small cassette was seated beside him.

" Rumble; Explanation. Now. " Soundwave demanded with his eerie tone that made Rumble cringe behind his own visor.

" I- I had trouble gettin' into my recharge cycle, boss. " He began to explain, " I h-had a nightmare…"

Soundwave let out a slightly annoyed-sounding sigh from his vocoder. Nightmares to them were nothing more than memories being replayed within their processor as they recharged. On occasion the memories would rearrange themselves, or the processor would manufacture new ones that never occurred, sometimes causing what humans referred to as 'nightmares'. But Soundwave was at the same time curious, for he had never previously dealt with nightmares experienced by any of his creations before.

" Elaborate. " Soundwave said in a more gentle tone, the change was subtle, but Rumble heard it.

" Well, it felt like any other fight we had with those Autobot scum-bots, 'cept we were winnin'. Frenzy and I were kickin' tailpipe, you woulda' been so proud of us. You were there too, beatin' up on the Autobots' own Communications Officer, and we were cheerin' you on…but…" Rumble paused in the middle of his story to think of how to explain everything, " But then something happened. One minute you were right there doin' so well, and the next minute, that Autobot punched a hole straight through you… "

Soundwave's visor brightened slightly as his cassette continued.

" He tore ya' apart. Your parts flew everyone, especially onto us… I was scared, so was Frenzy and the others. We were hangin' onto each other for dear life when we saw you being ripped to shreds. Then that Autobot started comin' closer to us with his own cassettes… "

"Continue. " said Soundwave when Rumble hesitated.

"…T-then I w-woke up…" A tinge of sadness hit Rumble's vocoder, and tiny tears began forming behind his visor, welling up and spilling onto his face and down his chin.

Soundwave on the outside seemed unmoved by the dream, but on the inside, the tape deck was filled with concern for his little creation. Such a morbid dream for a young Minicon, a dream that made his little Rumble quake with fear, and one that disturbed himself.

Rumble was wracked with stifled sobs as he recalled every detail of his gruesome nightmare. He wanted to forget it had ever happen, and thought it best to just leave at that point. But something, or rather someone, was preventing him from doing so.

Soundwave had taken hold of his little creation again, only this time moving him onto his lap while also rubbing gently at Rumble's back reassuringly, while his other free hand gingerly wiped the lines of tears from Rumble's face. A tender moment such as this between Soundwave and his little ones was certainly hard to come by nowadays, but it felt so gratifying as Rumble latched to his chest in a protective hug.

" I will not leave you and your siblings alone like that. Should I somehow die at the hands of the Autobots, I will return. Neither Primus nor the Pit can keep me away from my creations. " Soundwave said in that gentle tone once more, soothing his little cassette as his small cries silenced.

" Thanks, boss…I should probably go back to Frenzy now…" Rumble began to say, but Soundwave almost immediately interfered.

" Request: Denied. You may recharge here. " He insisted.

" Y-you mean it, Soundwave? " Rumble asked, his visor brightening.

" Just this once. " The tape deck forewarned as he moved his cassette off of his lap and to the side once more so that he could lay back down on his recharge slab.

He had expected for the purple cassette to take a spot beside him, but instead Rumble decided to scale Soundwave until he found a comfortable spot atop his chest, finding protecting by hiding his little face beneath Soundwave's chin.

Soft purrs radiated from the smaller form as the young Decepticon slowly drifted into a much happier recharge cycle, free from death and destruction. Soundwave's Spark swelled with sudden happiness as he recorded the sound of Rumble's purrs. One of his arms wrapped itself around the sleeping form, while the other resumed stroking the back of Rumble's helm.

As Soundwave held his creation protectively, he began to play soft music native to Earth, an old song from the 17th Century Baroque period. The beautiful sound of strings filled the bland room, shrouding the two in a calming, peaceful atmosphere.

" Soundwave…" Rumble mumbled in his sleep, catching Soundwave's attention, " You're the best creator ever. "

For once in many millennia, Soundwave felt as though he could smile. In that moment of being isolated from the others with no one other than his cassette, he might actually have. He permitted the song to continue playing until it finally reached its end, and only then did Soundwave drift back into his own recharge, Rumble still reclining in his protecting grasp.

* * *

When morning arrived, Soundwave made sure to rise before anyone else did. Rumble was still deep in recharge when the tape deck awoke, and Soundwave made sure that he didn't disturb the other as best as he could. He walked through the still-quiet halls of the _Nemesis_ with Rumble in his arms, taking him right back to the room where he had come from.

Frenzy and the other plethora of cassettes were also still recharging. Soundwave crept past the still-sleeping forms and carefully placed Rumble beside his twin brother. Then, as if almost sensing one another, the two unknowingly curled up against one another, as though searching for solace in one another. The figure looming above them cherished the precious moment and save a recording of the twins before quietly exiting the room.

" Cute kids. " Unbeknownst to Soundwave, Thundercracker had been observing from afar.

" Order; Do not speak of what occurred this morning, " Soundwave returned back to his foreboding, threatening tone, " Failure to comply will result in me _welding your wings to the ceiling_. "

" I was never here, " Thundercracker backed off in response to the threat, " Seeker's honor. "

Soundwave passed by the blue Seeker, ready to go about his monotonous morning routine. Only this time, he played the recording of Rumble's happy purrs in his head, filling him with an unseen happiness.


End file.
